Andy Burnham has promised to disagree with Donald Trump if necessary, including in public, in his first big broadcast interview since becoming prime minister.
Burnham’s comments came as Wes Streeting, the new defence secretary, said he did not believe the Trump administration was looking for allies who “suck up”, but rather those with the confidence to set out disagreements when needed.
Burnham, who is a relative novice when it comes to foreign policy, spoke at length to the US president shortly after entering No 10, in a call described by Downing Street officials as warm.
But with Washington resuming its attacks on Iran, there is the potential for early tensions, with Burnham sticking to the policy under Keir Starmer of not backing US offensive operations, something that prompted fierce public attacks from Trump.
Speaking to BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Burnham said: “I can’t at any point say that I won’t take a different opinion from him [Trump], that I will need to voice a different idea that is right for Britain.”
The prime minister said that if needed, he would set out his differences with Trump in public: “You have to defend your own national interest before anything else. That’s what you’re required to do if you’re to do this job properly.”
Streeting, in an interview on Sunday with Sky News’ Sunday with Trevor Phillips, said he had spoken to his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, and had been plain about the continued differences over Iran.
He said: “I was clear that we have not supported offensive action in Iran and we won’t support offensive action in Iran. But there are plenty of things that we can and should do together.”
Such straightforwardness was valued by Trump and his team, Streeting argued: “The first thing you do is, you don’t suck up. My impression is, President Trump, his administration – that’s not what they’re looking for. He’s a straight talker.”
Asked if he trusted the US president, Streeting said: “I don’t know him, but I do trust the United States.”
Being in the defence job, he added, had granted him “a unique insight into just how close and integral that relationship is when it comes to defence and security”.
Burnham, in his interview with the BBC, ruled out the idea of a swift general election to potentially capitalise on any bounce in the polls for Labour. “There’s no early general election. I don’t think people want it,” he said, adding that people had “voted for a manifesto” in 2024.
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He said: “I just think what I most need to do is get Britain focused on getting the country back where it should be.”
On defence spending, Burnham said he was “very aware” of the desire of John Healey, who resigned as defence secretary under Starmer and is now chancellor, to increase defence spending quickly to 3% of GDP, but refused to give a timetable.
He said: “The first challenge facing us both is to ensure that the defence investment plan is fully funded and that’s the thing that’s right in front of us and we need to work that through as we go towards the budget later this year.”
Streeting told Sky that as defence secretary he had a duty to make sure any increased budget was spent wisely.
He said: “There have clearly been longstanding issues with things like defence procurement, value for money. And as I said to the team at the Ministry of Defence this week, these things matter not just in abstract and because it’s the right thing to do to spend money wisely, it’s also because it matters because we’re asking a lot of taxpayers.”
